Internet communications become hacker-proof with quantum mechanics

Retelit, Italy's leading B2B telecommunications company, together with Telebit, a specialized system integrator in telecommunications, digital solutions, and e-mobility, and ThinkQuantum, a University of Padua spin-off offering cybersecurity solutions and quantum communication systems, has successfully completed a trial for the application of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) as a method for encrypting data transmitted over fiber optic cables.

A recent Ponemon Institute report reveals that the average cost of a data breach in Italy reached €4.37 million in 2024, as breaches become increasingly damaging. This is occurring at a time when organizations are accelerating the adoption of generative AI (Gen AI) technologies, which are expected to introduce new risks and challenges for security teams.
In the coming years, with the proliferation of these powerful new technologies capable of performing billions of calculations simultaneously to solve complex problems at incredible speeds, it will be possible to decrypt a communication in a matter of minutes.

In this context, an innovative technology emerges that uses the principles of quantum mechanics: Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). Used as an unbreakable encryption system, QKD ensures that both the sender and recipient are aware of any interception attempts by hackers, and the system interrupts the communication, making any theft of data or information impossible.
The trial demonstrated the applicability of QKD as an innovative method for encrypting data exchanged over a "traditional" channel such as fiber optics, but above all, it proved its applicability on a large scale as it is sufficient to have a single optical fiber, without additional dedicated channels, to make communications unhackable.

In the experiment, Retelit made available its network infrastructure, in particular a pair of optical fibers between the POPs of Treviso and Venice Mestre, together with its consolidated expertise in the telecommunications sector. ThinkQuantum provided the quantum devices developed thanks to the collaboration of the QTech experimental center of the University of Padua, which were then tested in the laboratories that the University made available for the experiment. Telebit, with its systems expertise, successfully connected the optical fiber and quantum devices, interconnecting them. In a single optical fiber, it was possible to pass both the data transmission channel, where connectivity and VoIP pass, and the quantum channel where QKD travels, without registering any interference since the two channels use different frequencies.
This is a result of great interest, both from the point of view of the security of communication between two or more subjects, and of accessibility and cost-effectiveness of the solution that can travel through the same transmission carrier as data, without the need to provide an additional dedicated one.

In this way, on the one hand, telecommunications companies will be able to offer their customers a solution that combines the performance of fiber optics with the innovative and advanced security of QKD, optimizing costs and resources employed; on the other hand, companies that handle sensitive and critical data - such as banks, the public and health sectors, energy, and government and military bodies - will have the guarantee of the security of ongoing communications.

In view of the future risk scenarios for current cryptographic protocols brought about by the development of quantum computers, it is important to note that the time required to map the cyber positioning of medium/large organizations and the transition to new Quantum-safe protocols such as QKD require the use of resources and long times. Moreover, there are hacker attacks that aim to steal information and data to use them at a later time, when the diffusion of quantum computers will make it possible to decrypt and read them easily. A crucial issue in those sectors where there is sensitive information and data that must be protected today but also tomorrow - an issue that is worth exploring further to be prepared for what awaits us in the future.

"From our privileged observatory, as enablers of services and new generation solutions through our network and data center infrastructures, we are witnessing the rapid diffusion of AI and GenAI and the development of new quantum technologies necessary to meet the computational capacity required for their use. This transformation, on the other hand, highlights the urgency and the need to equip companies and in general all organizations that handle data and information with adequate security systems in line with new technologies", declared Ruggero Slongo, Chief Operating Officer of Retelit "Innovation is in Retelit's DNA and this experiment is further confirmation of this. Together with Telebit and ThinkQuantum, we have achieved a very important result that I believe will revolutionize the way we communicate, making it hack-proof and at the same time accessible thanks to the optimization of the resources used".

Germano Quarta, CTO of Telebit, also speaks about the project: "The choice to invest in the development and integration of quantum communication technologies arises from the growing need to guarantee the protection of communications against emerging threats, including the risks deriving from the future developments of quantum computing. Quantum technologies are revolutionizing the global telecommunications landscape, and as Telebit we recognize the importance of being pioneers in this sector, to offer our customers solutions that meet the highest standards of security and innovation. This experiment confirms our commitment to exploring frontier technologies and to collaborating with academic and industrial partners to build resilient infrastructures, ready to support the communication needs of the future. We firmly believe that the integration of quantum technologies, such as QKD, represents a fundamental opportunity to strengthen today's critical networks and to design those of tomorrow".

"In this phase of rapid evolution and in the current critical context for cybersecurity, it is important that leading operators and system integrators in the TLC world such as Retelit and Telebit have grasped the urgency of including among their competencies and among the technologies provided to their customers also the solutions, commercially mature, now offered by quantum communications" says ThinkQuantum CEO Simone Capeleto. "This is only the beginning of a path that aims to spread awareness of the new threats and the skills in innovative areas such as quantum communications among industry professionals".